Meet the crypto billionaires building a world where money buys you a vote

Key Points:

• The Free Republic of Liberland is a self-declared micronation on disputed territory between Serbia and Croatia, founded by Vít Jedlička to create a libertarian, digital country using blockchain and cryptocurrency technology.
• Liberland operates on a unique voting system where influence is tied to a purchasable crypto token called Liberland Merits, effectively allowing those with more money to have greater political power, and it is entirely tax-free.
• Chinese crypto billionaire Justin Sun, a major investor in the Trump family's crypto ventures, supports Liberland and aims to use blockchain to run governments, promoting a vision of decentralized, borderless governance.
• The concept of blockchain-run micronations like Liberland reflects a broader movement among tech billionaires and libertarian thinkers who see traditional nation-states as outdated and advocate replacing them with corporate-style micro-governments.
• Influential figures such as Curtis Yarvin and Peter Thiel promote ideas of replacing democracy with authoritarian, blockchain-based governance models, and the crypto lobby has become a powerful political force in the US, surpassing even the fossil fuel industry in influence.